By: Rusty Brooks
The storied Waldorf Astoria completes renovations in 2022 and The NY Post reported that one of the new features will be a giant swimming pool.
The NY Post reported: “A key part of the intricate conversion of the hotel, originally opened in 1931, was the removal of four air-conditioning cooling towers that were previously installed on a terrace atop the 25th floor.
“They are being replaced by a row of skylights, which hover 19 feet above what the developers are calling the Starlight Pool, a residents-only amenity. The space was once the Starlight Roof, a private nightclub that debuted in the 1930s and hosted the likes of Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe”, The Post reported.
TJV previously reported that that Douglass Elliman has been tapped to sell 375 apartments on behalf of Anbang Insurance Group. the company, based in Beijing, China, purchased the Waldorf in 2015 for just under $2 billion.
The decidedly upscale homes range from the small – a single room – to roomy apartments with as many as five bedrooms. They are reportedly being managed by Hilton Worldwide, along with over a thousand hotel rooms.
“It’s a chance to own a piece of New York history and all the stories that go with it,” Susan de França, chief executive of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, told the Journal.
Prices among luxury housing in the city are dipping, but the apartments are projected to sell for millions each anyway. Newly levied taxes on homes with sale prices topping $1 million have also helped slow business down.
“The Journal report notes that Chinese buyers are under pressure from the Chinese government to keep capital in the country and have held back on home purchases in New York,” writes Crain’s New York Business.
The Waldorf project “will have plenty of competition from new Manhattan skyscrapers aimed at wealthy condo buyers. The historical pedigree of the building, which has hosted U.S. presidents and a long list of foreign dignitaries, combined with the mix of unit sizes, should help the Waldorf apartments stand out,” reported Bloomberg News.
The N.Y Post reported: “The 82-foot-long pool is just one facet of the Waldorf’s 50,000 square feet of amenities reserved for residents only. (The hotel portion will have another 100,000 square feet of them, which residents can also use.)
Beyond the pool, flanked on either end by a sculptural fountain and a winter garden, there’s a fitness center that overlooks it. Elsewhere, there will be a billiards room, a gaming room with a bar and a cinema with a stage that can also be used for live performances.
